The Great Indian (and Wagon) Road

Frederick County · dedicated 2008 · Route 11, 0.25 miles east of the intersection with I-81, in a park

The Great Indian Road, called Philadelphia Wagon Road by many settlers, was developed by Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) warriors traveling in the 1700s through the Great Valley of the Appalachians (which they called Jonontore) from Cohongaronto (north of the Potomac), to raid the Catawba in the Carolinas. In 1743, Iroquois headmen complained that Europeans had settled along the road, a treaty violation. The Lancaster Treaty of 1744 clarified the road's direction and acknowledged the Iroquois’ right to travel through Frederick County to New River settlements and farther south. This road later brought immigrants to the Valley in Conestoga wagons. Today U.S. Route 11 generally follows the historic road.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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The Great Indian (and Wagon) Road

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